Jan. 1, 2009: Oscar Grant Killed
Oscar Grant was fatally shot by BART Police in Oakland.
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Theme: African American
African American
Jan. 3, 1966: Sammy Younge Jr. Murdered
Samuel Younge Jr., Navy vet, Tuskegee student, activist was killed in Alabama for using a “whites-only” bathroom. SNCC issued a powerful statement about his murder and in opposition to the Vietnam War.
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March 24, 1853: Mary Ann Shadd Cary Published “The Provincial Freeman”
Mary Ann Shadd Cary published the first edition of “The Provincial Freeman,” Canada’s first anti-slavery newspaper.
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May 31, 1921: Tulsa Massacre
In one of countless white supremacist massacres in U.S. history, white supremacists destroyed a thriving Black community in Oklahoma, known today as the Tulsa Massacre.
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July 4, 1910: Jack Johnson Defeats James J. Jeffries
African American heavyweight champion Jack Johnson successfully defended his title by knocking out James J. Jeffries, who had come out of retirement “to win back the title for the White race” in Reno, Nevada.
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Jan. 2, 1915: John Hope Franklin Born
John Hope Franklin, born this day in Rentiesville and raised in Tulsa, Oklahoma, was one of most important historians of the 20th century.
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Jan. 6, 1874: Robert B. Elliott Spoke of Need for Civil Rights Act
Rep. Robert B. Elliott gave a speech to advocate for the Civil Rights Act, which passed a year later.
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March 5, 1770: Crispus Attucks Killed
Crispus Attucks was the first person shot to death by the British during the Boston Massacre.
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March 6, 1857: Dred (and Harriet) Scott Decision
The Supreme Court declared in horrific Dred Scott v. Sandford ruling that “Any person descended from Africans, whether slave or free, is not a citizen of U.S.”
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March 7, 1965: Bloody Sunday
To protest the police murder of Jimmie Lee Jackson and for voting rights, more than 600 people began a peaceful march from Selma to Montgomery.
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April 17, 1863: Charlotte Brown Forced Off Streetcar
Charlotte Brown was forcibly removed from a horse-drawn streetcar in San Francisco.
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March 19, 1968: Howard University Protest
Howard University students seized the Administration Building, demanding changes in the discipline policy, the addition of courses in African American history, and more.
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March 22, 1968: March for Justice and Jobs
Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and the Community on the Move for Equality called for a march in Memphis, Tennessee in solidarity with sanitation workers.
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March 23, 1965: Selma to Montgomery March Continues
The Selma to Montgomery marchers traveled into Lowndes County, working with local leaders to organize residents into a new political organization: the Lowndes County Freedom Organization (LCFO).
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March 25, 1931: Scottsboro Nine
Nine young African Americans were falsely charged with rape and collectively served more than 100 years in prison.
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March 25, 1965: Last Selma March
The Selma marches were three protest marches about voting rights, held in 1965.
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March 26, 1964: Martin Luther King Jr. and Malcolm X
Martin Luther King Jr. and Malcolm X met briefly by chance as they were waiting for a press conference.
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March 27, 1867: Staged Ride-ins in South Carolina Streetcars
Staged ride-ins during Reconstruction in South Carolina were among the first (recorded) organized protests of segregation on a streetcar.
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March 30, 1870: Fifteenth Amendment
The 15th Amendment to the United States Constitution was formally adopted.
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April 4, 1968: Martin Luther King Jr. Assassinated
Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated while in Memphis to support the striking sanitation workers.
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April 24, 1867: Richmond Streetcar Protest
African Americans in Richmond, Virginia organized protests against segregated streetcars.
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April 21, 1937: Congressman Ordered to Jim Crow Section of Train
Illinois congressman Arthur W. Mitchell was ordered to move to the Jim Crow car of the train once it entered Arkansas.
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April 18, 1959: Students Petition and March for Integrated Schools
26,000 high school and college students came to Washington, D.C. to demand the end of segregated schools.
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Freedom’s Shore
Book — Non-fiction. By Russell Duncan. 1986. 192 pages.
Freedom’s Shore tells the incredible story of Tunis Campbell, a Northern abolitionist minister who heads South after the Civil War to help freedpeople in Georgia.
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Freedom’s Shore tells the incredible story of Tunis Campbell, a Northern abolitionist minister who heads South after the Civil War to help freedpeople in Georgia.
Cause: Reconstruction America, 1863-1877
Book — Non-fiction. By Tonya Bolden. 2014. 138 pages.
One of the few non-fiction texts on Reconstruction aimed at young readers, Cause is a strong alternative to the textbook treatment of the era.
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One of the few non-fiction texts on Reconstruction aimed at young readers, Cause is a strong alternative to the textbook treatment of the era.